befores

Noun

before (plural befores)

1. Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment.
   • On the left of the double column of photographs are the “befores.” Look at them! Fine boys all, yet here is an unformed mouth; there, a fine face just missing strength by a slight over-plumpness of feature; below, a clever face just a shade too “smart”; on the next page, a form too slight and...1918 April, “Before and After”, in Arthur Deerin Call, editor, Advocate of Peace, volume LXXX, number 4, Washington, D.C.: American Peace Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, “Editorial Notes” section, page 105...
2. (often, poetic, uncommon) That which occurred or existed previously.
   • As all are commanded to yield like the mummy when the dung beetle rolls the sun / before all the befores of the trillion nights past night and day / though I knew that the broken receding mouth of the Sphinx had nothing to add / of resurrection in the history of its grimace.1982, Hugh Seidman, “Hymn”, in Throne/Falcon/Eye: Poems, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN; quoted in Michael Heller, “SEIDMAN, Hugh”, in James Vinson, D[aniel] L[ane] Kirkpatrick, editors...
3. (rare) A previous form or instance.
   • A big wind blew all their befores away. Impacted teeth grew over their names. Even the lines in their hands unraveled, these are the lines they stand in to ask for their hands back.1999 March, Julia Vinograd, “The Homeless”, in Street Spirit, volume 5, number 3, San Francisco, Calif.: American Friends Service Committee, →OCLC, page 13

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